Beautiful Vermont swimming hole takes another life

RICHMOND, Vt. (AP) — A beautiful but often deadly Vermont river gorge has taken another life.

Police tell The Burlington Free Press that 22-year-old Milton resident Elanie (ee-LAY'-nee) Santor was walking with two companions Sunday when she lost her footing and fell into the rushing, rain-swollen Huntington River.

The small Huntington Gorge in Richmond is marked by rapids, cascades and horsetails and is a popular spot for swimmers and nature lovers. But since 1950 its treacherous waters have taken more than two dozen lives, including that of a state police rescue diver who drowned in 1992 while trying to recover another drowning victim.

At the gorge on Monday, some swimmers were just learning of Santor's death. They advise swimming upstream or downstream but staying out of the most treacherous parts of the gorge.